Sicklesmere is a village in Suffolk, England. Located on the A134 around a mile south of Bury St Edmunds, the village is divided between the civil parishes of Little and Great Whelnetham.

History

All spellings of the name until the seventeenth century are with -d-, starting with Sidulfes mere circa 1100. The purported 1272 spelling Sykolvesmere, in W. Rye, A Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Suffolk (1900) is an error by Rye; the manuscript of the fine in the National Archives actually has Sydolvesm[er]e. The village is named after a mere or lake that used to be present near the River Lark, and the first element is the Old English personal name *Siduwulf, not a Norse name (Keith Briggs and Kelly Kilpatrick, A dictionary of Suffolk place-names, Nottingham: EPNS & SIAH 2016, page 122). In truth it is no more than a small cluster of properties besides the River Lark. Many of these are flint-built cottages. A circular-shaped building known as the Toll House is located on the main road. In the days of coach travel there was a regular service between Norwich and London via Sudbury which ran four times a day through Sicklesmere. The village was also previously served by Welnetham railway station until the Beeching Axe. The village has a pub, the Rushbrooke Arms.

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